When I was in the Army, we had this cadence we’d sing every morning as we marched over to chow. It went like this:

“Here we go again. Same old s!@# again…”

Kind of feeling that way today. No matter how much you try to help people… it seems some just never learn.

You might remember last week I sent you an email about all that mindset “woo-woo” stuff. And, I told you the story of my dad, his accident and how his disability payments nearly killed him.

You also might have noticed I threw in a little jab at Bernie. Specifically:

“Here’s the most powerful thing I learned about making that switch: Anything and everything you come across… even the most moronic or twisted ideas you might see (like a Bernie sanders speech) parse it out. Find the value in it. Don’t wholly accept or reject ideas. Don’t write people off because they belong to Team A or Team B. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Find the value and be grateful for it.”

I think a good and mostly uncontroversial idea.

But, some people only see what they want to. Most people thanked me for the email, but little ol’ “Jamie” the Bernie-bot (names changed to protected the guilty) sent me this:

“Here’s some business advice to YOU. Never, never make fun of a political candidate in a mass email.”

Business advice from a Bernie-bot? Pretty rich!

Maybe she should go “re-distribute” that advice to someone who needs it.

Anyhoo, she completely missed the point. I actually said you should be careful of wholly dismissing advice because you disagree with one part of it. Instead, parse through it and find the value. And there was plenty of value to be found.

But wait… am I doing the same to her?

Nope.

I actually heard what she said, but I’ve already thought this through. In fact, I’ve talked about it many times before.

Business isn’t about being everything to everybody.

Think of the people who do that:

Politicians, used car salesman, lawyers…

Most of us can’t stand these people specifically BECAUSE they try to be everything to everybody. Nobody thinks of the slick used car salesman telling everybody what they want to hear and thinks, “That guy is awesome!”

And when you express it… you’ll naturally attract the people who think like you and repel the ones who don’t. And, your following will be much more loyal. And the clients you work with will be much less of a pain the arse.

And, you’ll have less headaches.

So, if you’re a Bernie-bot… say so and attract other Bernie-bots to you. If you’re on the Trump train, attract other Trump-trainers. If you’re a Christian… attract other Christians. If you’re Muslim, other muslims… etc.

In other words… be who you are.

You don’t have to change that to “be professional”.

Now, speaking of business advice the thing that drives my entire business is YouTube. It’s the source of almost all my traffic, Google rankings, etc. And, to me, YouTube is the single quickest way for ANYBODY to start making a living online.

Want to prove to people you’re an expert in PHP?

Create a quick 5-10 video series and upload it to YouTube. Potential clients will find you, see for themselves you’re good and hire you.

I get quote requests every single month because of my YouTube channel.

In fact, if you’re going to listen to nothing else I say… starting a YouTube channel around your career is the one thing I’d do.

Of course, there are some tricks to getting noticed, building a following and ranking high in YouTube searches. Which is why I recommend Phil Ebiner’s YouTube Masterclass.

And look you don’t need to me some rock-star, camera-loving extrovert. Cool if you are… but it’s not required. I’m a shy meat-head from the Midwest. If I can do this kind of thing, you definitely can. And frankly… your ability to make a living from code in the future may very well depend on your ability to demonstrate your skills like this.

P.S. That link is an exclusive discount link I got from Udemy. So be sure to get the discount before it expires.

Sounds weird. Most people think the online explosion has already happened.

But, I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.

And, I firmly believe that what we’re about to see is going to blow open the web design and development world and fundamentally change the way developers succeed forever.

Starting around 2003-2004, a similar shift happened.

I was a young web developer… in my first year learning code. Back then, everything was primarily text-based and built with tables (a sin today).

What hit me was a fundamental change to how the web worked.

It wasn’t a change in specification or some governing body getting together and making the change… it was really more of a unwritten consensus on how people wanted the web to work.

Google, WordPress, Facebook and whole slew of today’s tech giants were born out of this shift.

And, I was wiped of the map… by Web 2.0.

But, the coming shift is less about how sites are built and more about WHO is building them.

The source of this shift: the legitimacy of the web.

See, when I started everyone laughed at the web.

When I said I was going to learn to code and make my living off the internet, my family and friends thought I was crazy.

Nobody’s laughing now!

And more and more people are seeing the internet as their “way out”. In fact, it’s beyond that… they’re beginning to see it as required.

I think we’re in the middle of a global economic transition… from the industrial age into the high-tech age.

In the United States, before the Industrial Revolution… roughly 50% of all workers were involved in agriculture.

Today, as a result of the industrial revolution, only 2% of the U.S. population is involved in agriculture.

I think the same thing is happening now.

Soon, it’ll be robots doing most of the industrial manufacturing… and we’ll all be working on the tech that makes it happen.Sounds a bit sci-fi, looney bin crazy, right?

Try going back to 1995 and explaining to someone then that we’d all be carrying around wallet-size phones, with touch screens that are connected to this thing called the “internet” which is like this virtual data and connection store……..

You might get committed.

Anyway, what all this means for you…

More and more people will be losing their jobs. More and more people are wanting freedom from their 9-5. More and more people want to secure their livelihood in this tumultuous time. More and more people will be willing to take risks as freelancers and entrepreneurs. And, as a result, more and more people will be coming online.

Your competition.

Not necessarily as web developers… but competitors for your potential clients’ attention.

Attention is the lifeblood of online success.

You have to get it and keep it.

Gary Vaynerchuk often says this about the internet:

“At the end of the day all we’re doing is: 1) getting people’s attention, 2) telling our story and 3) selling our stuff.”

I’m paraphrasing… but it’s 100% true.

A lot of developers will read this and think: “I don’t have to do this. I’m just going to get hired at a tech company. I’m not a freelancer.”

Not going to work much longer.

The competition for those jobs is increasing… and those companies are looking to hire developers that have proven they can succeed outside the infrastructure of a big tech company.

You have to get them to notice you.

And, the way you do that is the same way a freelancer gets clients.

So, what should you do as a result of all this?

Get over this notion that you don’t need to learn this.

Learn how to market yourself and build a personal brand.

Start building your online presence NOW

You have an advantage because you’re ahead of the wave. In fact, by starting now you can set yourself up to profit from it.

To be a leader in your field FOR the millions coming online.

And you can secure your future and your income while everyone else around you is running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

And look, some of this might sound scary to you. You might have to put yourself out there in a way you never have before. But, trust me, you can do it!

I was a construction-working, football-playing “meat-head” before I started all this. You’re likely much smarter than me. So, if I can do it… you sure as hell can. Your future as a full-time web developer may very well depend on it:

You’re not coding for your health. You desperately want to do this for a living. The freedom, the peace of mind, the control.

Feels like it’s right at your fingertips.

But, how do you get people to hire you (whether freelance or regular ‘ol corporate gig) when you’re just starting and don’t have a portfolio?

Pull a Da Vinci.

When you think of Leonardo Da Vinci, what do you think of? There’s a good chance one of the things you think of is what’s called the Vitruvian Man. It’s that anatomical sketch of a man with two poses superimposed over each other:

Do you know what that is?

It was a sketch in his notebook. It now sits in a museum in Italy and is known as one of his iconic works.

Renaissance painters did this all the time.

It’s called a “study”… and many of these studies now sit in museums all over the world and are some of their more well-known works.

It’s also part of how they got work in their time.

Imagine some 15th century king or queen who wanted a painting of themselves and is out looking for the best artist. And, they see something like this and the depth of understanding Da Vinci or one of the others had about proportions and all that.

Think they might be convinced?

Do you know that despite the fact Da Vinci is known for being one of the most active artists of his time… he only painted about 20 paintings in his lifetime?

Much of what he’s known for are his studies and sketches.

So, how does this help you?

You do NOT need a portfolio filled with projects you did for clients!

Say this over and over until it clicks.

In fact, when you’re first starting how the hell would you have that? Sure, you could do free work for people.

But, fair warning: that’s dangerous.

When people don’t have to pay for your time, they’re much more likely to use it like it’s going out of style.

Avoid that hell and just do a few studies.

Create websites for nobody.

Just to put in your portfolio.

Of course, make them relevant to the services you’ll be offering… but nothing says your portfolio has to be only filled with projects for clients.

Those are better…

But, it’s not necessary.

Show people what you can do. Give them a taste of your skillset. And you can do this starting right now. You don’t have to wait on anybody.

If you’re starting out and struggling with this, there’s literally ZERO reason not to do this. Having a portfolio of “studies” is 100 times better than have no portfolio at all. Then, over time, replace your studies with actual client projects.

And you’re off to the races.

Now, if you’re wondering…

This is one of the things I’m going to be covering in-depth this month inside an exclusive course I’m releasing on Patreon.

It’s all about getting hired on Upwork.

And you can only get access to it when you become a supporting listener of the John Morris Show on Patreon.

I’m a guy who grew up in fairly extreme poverty and my head warped by “poor man’s thinking”. Some people think that’s a myth.

It’s not.

Here’s an example:

My dad was in a car accident with my brother and I when I was 8. As a result, he was disabled and therefore eligible to receive disability payments from good ‘ol Uncle Sam. The idea was to help him out until he could get back on his feet, find a career that worked for him and get off of the disability payments.

It’s been 27 years since that accident. Guess who’s still on disability?

That was my childhood example. Never make too much income so the “free money” goes away. Those payments have almost killed my dad.

Seriously.

He completely vegged out. He became so inactive and destructive of his health that he developed type 2 diabetes… to the point he almost lost his legs. His breakfast, lunch and dinner was licorice and Pepsi because he didn’t have to worry about going to work. He got paid regardless.

For child-JMO… breaking out of the way of thinking took a lot of woo-woo stuff.

That’s why I talk so much about it.

Here’s another example of a loser mindset:

“You spam me with useless marketing rubbish or some link to some discounted service or course all the time, but I never see any emails that say “here’s a no-garbage tutorial on how to do such and such with PHP or whatever, without having to pay for crap”… Learning web languages is free for everyone – so why when I subscribe to learn from a professional like you, do I have to look at constant service advertising?”

Notice the entitlement?

Contrast that with this:

“After reading your email, I am a little angry. OK, we can not please everyone, but I think we have a little respect for people who give their time to share their knowledge. This kind of person, I also meet and their argument is jealousy. In short! I would still say congratulations and thank you for the great work you do! I am a young independent developer and I must say that each of your advice touched me. I love your honesty and outspoken. I listen your podcasts and read your emails with great attention. To return to the subject of your email, I got a contract because my solution was more relevant, but mostly, I have not spoken technique, but, I just spoke under the goal. And that’s my client who explained that he had chosen me because, with me, he understood where and how to achieve his goal.“

Losers are entitled, ungrateful, demanding… spoiled.

Winners are unassuming, grateful, honest… and take action!

But, don’t worry…

If you find your mindset isn’t on the winner side… you can change it. It takes that woo-woo stuff that loser #1 above doesn’t want to hear about, but it’s absolutely possible.

Here’s the most powerful thing I learned about making that switch:

Anything and everything you come across… even the most moronic or twisted ideas you might see (like a Bernie sanders speech) parse it out.

Find the value in it.

Don’t wholly accept or reject ideas. Don’t write people off because they belong to Team A or Team B. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Find the value and be grateful for it.

It’s there.

You just have to look.

Speaking of… you know what else winners do?

Why they become a supporting listener of the John Morris Show on Patreon… that’s what:

In Episode 67 of the John Morris Show you’ll learn how to use flexbox to build mobile responsive web designs, how to write job proposals on Upwork that win, the losing “WordPress is for suckers” mindset and more:

In this episode of the John Morris Show, I cover the process I used to build my PHP applications and avoid “blank page syndrome”, I reveal my tax tips for freelancers, the art of being persistent, changes in iTunes podcasting platform that affect you and more:

Subscribe to the Podcast

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Here’s the line-up:

Opening and my Freelancer.com rant [1:25]

iTunes new podcasting platform and how it affects you [10:46]

The secret to getting anything you want in life: be p________t [24:00]

In this episode of the John Morris Show, how to pick the right fonts for your web design, bye-bye Java, 7 future web design trends, don’t be THAT guy on social when chasing clients, answering your questions and more:

In this episode of the John Morris Show, my big thank you to you, inside CES, how to overcome fear and be aggressive with your career, color theory and my process for picking a website’s colors and more:

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If you’re the type of person who learns best by actually doing, rather than by merely reading about how to do something or studying the theory behind a particular topic, this course is ideal. By the time you finish, you’ll have a single page application to add to your portfolio.

What to Expect

Throughout this course, you’ll cover everything from directives and dependency injection, to the digest loop, two-way data binding, and watchers. You’ll also learn to work with loosely typed arrays, the event loop and the hash, and custom attributes.

Other highlights include learning how to:

Code custom services

Design custom directives

Tackle concepts like scope, link, and compile

Understand two-way binding

Most importantly, you’ll be learning the latest version of AngularJS so you’ll be ahead of the curve as you pursue new work opportunities.

Keeping Things Simple

AngularJS can be a challenging framework to learn, but this course keeps things simple. The concepts are delivered in an easy-to-understand and clear format, and you’ll also receive downloadable source code.

You’ll receive starter code to give you the base that you need to begin writing your own code, and you’ll also receive finished code so you can compare your code to it and see how well you did.

What Students Say About This Course

Students feel that this is the best AngularJS course that is available. They enjoy the clear instruction and they appreciate the pacing of the lectures and exercises.

Those who have already completed this course were totally pleased with it and came away with new skills that they were able to apply to their work.

Grab This Course Today at a Super Low Price

As long as you have basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, you can dive right in and learn AngularJS from one of the best instructors in the field, and you can enroll for just $19 (the course is normally priced at $99) because of a deal I worked out with Anthony for my audience.

It’s highly doubtful that you’ll be able to find a more comprehensive, effective, and up-to-date course on AngularJS anywhere else on the web. And with Udemy, you get lifetime access to the course, as well as a 30-day money back guarantee in case you don’t like it.

For a minimal investment, you can give Learn and Understand AngularJS a try and experience for yourself what so many other students have already enjoyed about this valuable course.

In this episode of the John Morris Show, I share the 4 responsive web design principles every web developer should know, CES, Oculus Rift, how I’m launching my wife’s freelancing career, answers to your questions and more:

In this episode of the John Morris Show I share the Web Design trends to watch in 2016, how to send form data via email, the risk-takers mindset and how to capitalize in a competitive industry and more.

Subscribe to the Podcast

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Here’s the line-up:

Before You Write Your New Years Resolutions [00:48]

Web Design Trends to Watch in 2016[13:57]

Risk-Takers Mindset and Capitalizing In a Competitive Industry [26:58]

In this episode of the John Morris Show I share what web designers can learn from the Miss Universe gaffe, 6 common PHP security issues and their fixes, is it worth trying Upwork, answers to your questions and more: